Tablets

Well … Macs, PCs, iPods, iPads, Android Phones, Palm webOS phones, Windows Phone 7 Phone, Android Tablet, Nook … and the full set of GBA/DS/PSP hardware …

In other words - way too much.

Well, to each his own. You're probably just addicted to the consumer mindset :)

Because there IS much I like about Android!

You like Android the OS but you think it's a poor OS?

haha … well played :)

I honestly don't know Android that well, so I couldn't say how open it is. It seems a lot more flexible, that's for sure, but until I get to use it on a daily basis - I'll have to reserve judgment.
 
There have been rumblings about Color E-Ink devices for a while now but I don't think anything has made it to mass production yet.

I've seen pictures and videos of prototypes and it does literally look like ink. Like a color newspaper or a magazine page but more matte. It would work well for documents and magazines and obviously get a long battery life, but I think playing games on it would be odd.
 
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I own an iPod Touch 2G, Kindle 1G and Nook Color as my tablet like devices. Got a cheap prepaid phone for phone calls so I don't need a $100/month plan and I usually have wifi access at destinations so I don't miss 3G data access. The iPod has all of my email, music, books, and news reader software that use day-to-day goes with me just about everywhere. That iPod was the single best electronics purchase I've made in the past 5 years.

The Kindle has cellular connection but really isnt that useful except to buy books from anywhere which really isn't a problem for me. The Nook was rooted so I can have both Kindle books, B&N books and then most android apps on it. The Nook screen is good enough for reading but I prefer the Kindle because the e-ink display hurts my eyes less over time.

I dont think I'm interested in the Kindle Fire at this time since I have enough devices and I'm concerned that they will lock it down much like Apple. They will not be as open as Barnes and Noble about allowing rooting because Amazon will likely sell a ad-supported version in the near future like they did with the other readers. The first thing I would do remove is the ads if I could root it as well as installing Google Market for free apps.
 
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They will not be as open as Barnes and Noble about allowing rooting because Amazon will likely sell a ad-supported version in the near future like they did with the other readers.

I'm 100% certain people will find a way to root and put custom roms on it anyhow. That said, Barnes and Noble has been wonderfully hands off in this regard when they could have easily put roadblocks up.

The first thing I would do remove is the ads if I could root it as well as installing Google Market for free apps.

Amazon has a fair amount of free apps in their market too, unlike the Nook's market which has very few. Also Amazon does a free paid app of the day and you don't need to actually install the apps, you can just add them to your Amazon account. You can even do it from your PC.

Of course, the Android Market still has many more apps but Amazon is trying really hard to catch up. I suspect they will with the release of the Fire since developers will want their apps to reach those several million people it will likely sell to.

I really think this will help get more in the way of tablet based apps for Android out there too. Right now there are so few tablets out in people's hands that there's really not much incentive to do a tablet optimized app vs just making a phone app that upscales.
 
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I'm thinking of buying a tablet too, especially since I'm in the states next month.

I was thinking of the kindle fire as an ideal candidate, except it uses a somewhat older heavily modified version of android. Anyone knows if there are any problems of using an USA-bought tablet in Europe and/or if the kindle fire can/will be upgraded to android 4 ?

Recently, my eye caught the upcoming tegra 3 tablets. Well actually, only the asus transformer prime has been announced for now (due to somewhere in December). My goal would be first and foremost surfing, e-mail, watching HD movies (connected to the tv using hdmi) and later also some light (rpg) games. The new tegra 3 seems ideal for that. Any thoughts ?
http://eee.asus.com/en/eeepad/transformer-prime/features

As an aside, should I want to buy a tablet (or skyrim, ps3 version) when I'm in the USA, which store is best/cheapest ? Furthermore, will ps3 games work on my european ps3 ?
 
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Don't thinh of Kindle Fire as a n Android tablet really. It has android as a base, but everything else is all amazon, to the points of having different api calls meaning you can't side load apps and expect them to work.
 
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I was already afraid that might be the case. Maybe i'll go for the transformer prime then, I 'thinh' (US slang is crazy) it's perfect except for the price. While it is decently priced (it's $500 I think) relatively to the other tablets, I still think it's too much for a table (if it's <400$ it'd be a no brainer).
 
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I was already afraid that might be the case. Maybe i'll go for the transformer prime then, I 'thinh' (US slang is crazy) it's perfect except for the price. While it is decently priced (it's $500 I think) relatively to the other tablets, I still think it's too much for a table (if it's <400$ it'd be a no brainer).

That 'slang' is called smartphone fingers ;)
 
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Speaking of Amazon Market, "Eve of the Genesis" is the free app of the day and looks to be a jrpg. While I don't like games on my phone I'm gonna grab a tablet this holiday season (probably B&Ns new tablet) and the games should be much better on a larger screen.
 
That 'slang' is called smartphone fingers ;)
Sure, SLang = Smartphone Language :)

Anyways, the nook color 2 also looks quite nice, it's in the same league as the fire but with a little bit extra storage, microphone, etc. A shame that the B&N store probably won't work in Europe, same as the included hulu plus app.

Hopefully, a slightly cheaper tegra 3 tablet comes out in December, e.g., they can cut out the camera's etc. On the other hand, I might as well buy the prime while i'm in the US due to the price difference. Any tips of smuggling it through customs ? :)
 
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Anyways, the nook color 2 also looks quite nice, it's in the same league as the fire but with a little bit extra storage, microphone, etc. A shame that the B&N store probably won't work in Europe, same as the included hulu plus app.
Nook Tablet now appears more limited than the Kindle Fire. Nook has limits of 1GB internal storage for non-Barnes & Noble content, and might not be hackable. Apparently B&N saw little benefit from the Nook Color.

Hopefully, a slightly cheaper tegra 3 tablet comes out in December, e.g., they can cut out the camera's etc. On the other hand, I might as well buy the prime while i'm in the US due to the price difference. Any tips of smuggling it through customs ? :)

Android tablets will continue to be 'price losers' for some time to come. Amazon and B&N are cheap because you are buying their ecosystem - it is a razor and blade system.
 
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Seems the nook color is already hacked, so it is possible to install the android app market thingie.
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/hi...50-nook-color-into-a-full-android-tablet/7630
The nook color is the one from LAST year ... the Nook Tablet has a 'root' solution, but it still has a locked bootloader, meaning that whenever you restart you need to re-root. Apparently there is a semi-workaround, but basically it is NOT an Android Tablet yet. Kindle Fire is fully rooted.

I'm a totally fan of the transformer prime now, though I know it's a bit irrational as I probably would use it 99% of the time only for surfing and e-mail (which a kindle fire or nook handles well too):

For me there is little interest in an 'Android laptop', but if there is for you, then the Prime is very attractive. It will still be a mish-mosh of incompatible stuff and a few things that take advantage of the format.

And android (tegra3) tablets will probably drop prices in about 5 months or so.
http://www.androidauthority.com/tegra-3-tablets-to-drop-prices-in-6-months-33876/

I don't even know what to say about that ... because EVERY Android device is on clearance within 6 months. Heck, most phones are 50% off by the time they are releases, and the only way any Android tablet has sold has been in a fire sale. So ... um, yeah they will drop the way the original Transformer is now on clearance, and the next month the NEXT big thing will drop.
 
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The nook color is the one from LAST year … the Nook Tablet has a 'root' solution, but it still has a locked bootloader, meaning that whenever you restart you need to re-root. Apparently there is a semi-workaround, but basically it is NOT an Android Tablet yet. Kindle Fire is fully rooted.
Yeah I saw that the moment I posted it, but apparently I was still too slow to remove it from my post.

For me there is little interest in an 'Android laptop', but if there is for you, then the Prime is very attractive. It will still be a mish-mosh of incompatible stuff and a few things that take advantage of the format.
The keyboard is optional and you can simply remove it when you're on the go. In any case, I was not talking about the keyboard but about the hardware and the openness of android (well, I hope so):
- surfing will be fast enough for me now (previous generation was almost there, but it still lagged sometime)
- use it as media center (high-profile x264 hw decoding, micro hdmi port)
- supports SDXC (so you can add 128 gb extra storage later on)
- and probably much more (Coming from linux, I don't mind tinkering and even port some apps. myself)

I don't even know what to say about that … because EVERY Android device is on clearance within 6 months. Heck, most phones are 50% off by the time they are releases, and the only way any Android tablet has sold has been in a fire sale. So … um, yeah they will drop the way the original Transformer is now on clearance, and the next month the NEXT big thing will drop.
Nvidia is on a roll atm with a rapid development cycle, meaning those price drops will come earlier next year.

If I look at the transformer price evolution (in Belgium) it almost stayed the same (400 euro) since its release, and as the prime will not be release until Jan/Feb it will have stayed the same for 10 months. Anyways, this is of course just speculation so don't shoot me (again), time will tell.
 
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